Novice diver, tried Backplate and wing and looking for recommendations

[Tassie_Rohan]

New diver (35 dives) also looking for my first BP/W. Based on budget looking at DGX and Hog. With aluminum plate, single tank adapter, and 30-32 wing, and harness and steel hardware looking at about 8-9lbs. Is that heavy or par for the course?

I'd say that's near perfect. I dive a near identical set up and with a 3mm wetsuit and the buoyant aluminum tanks tropical dive resorts seem to love I need ~6 lb lead.

If you need less weight you can remove the STA and just thread the tank cam bands through the slots in the wing and plate for an even more minimalist approach. For cold water dives add some weight pouches to the tank bands and/or ziptie some to the backplate.

Do note there's a difference between weight in air of your kit (8-9 lb) and buoyancy in water (~-1-2 lb?). Al plate-wing-harness set ups aren't that negative unless you add steel STA and cam bands.

I'm trying to think of a situation where a soft plate is warranted over an Al plate. The only upside I can think is packing weight.

Cheers
Rohan

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

New diver (35 dives) also looking for my first BP/W. Based on budget looking at DGX and Hog. With aluminum plate, single tank adapter, and 30-32 wing, and harness and steel hardware looking at about 8-9lbs. Is that heavy or par for the course? Have the option of a "soft plate" with HOG which will shave off about 2 pounds but wandering if that defeats the purpose. Will be diving cold water in Northern CA and NY (7mm and 50 degree water) a handful of times a year but primarily traveling to dive in warm water so trying to keep the weight down. But, plan on some deep blue/ocean/liveaboards in case that makes a difference as to hard plate and soft plate.

Where in Northern California?
You could get an aluminum plate which you could make work in Norcal by just using a bigger weightbelt. You could also use a weighted STA and use the heaviest steel tank you can find. If you can handle a 120 use that.
Then for tropical diving, ditch the STA and off you go with a light aluminum plate.
A 30lb wing will work for both. I like the DGX 30 lb donut wing.

 

[ABLAB]

I'd say that's near perfect. I dive a near identical set up and with a 3mm wetsuit and the buoyant aluminum tanks tropical dive resorts seem to love I need ~6 lb lead.

If you need less weight you can remove the STA and just thread the tank cam bands through the slots in the wing and plate for an even more minimalist approach. For cold water dives add some weight pouches to the tank bands and/or ziptie some to the backplate.

Do note there's a difference between weight in air of your kit (8-9 lb) and buoyancy in water (~-1-2 lb?). Al plate-wing-harness set ups aren't that negative unless you add steel STA and cam bands.

I'm trying to think of a situation where a soft plate is warranted over an Al plate. The only upside I can think is packing weight.

Cheers
Rohan

Thank you Rohan. Super helpful.

 

[ABLAB]

Where in Northern California?
You could get an aluminum plate which you could make work in Norcal by just using a bigger weightbelt. You could also use a weighted STA and use the heaviest steel tank you can find. If you can handle a 120 use that.
Then for tropical diving, ditch the STA and off you go with a light aluminum plate.
A 30lb wing will work for both. I like the DGX 30 lb donut wing.

Thanks. Very helpful tips.

I visit family in SF a few times a year and gonna start diving Monterey. 1st dive will be this March. Would appreciate any tips if you're familiar. Looking at Aquarius and Bamboo reefs. Probably will avoid diving summer and early fall. Not too keen on crossing paths with great whites in low visibility unless I'm in a cage.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Thanks. Very helpful tips.

I visit family in SF a few times a year and gonna start diving Monterey. 1st dive will be this March. Would appreciate any tips if you're familiar. Looking at Aquarius and Bamboo reefs. Probably will avoid diving summer and early fall. Not too keen on crossing paths with great whites in low visibility unless I'm in a cage.

I wouldn’t worry about whites.
The large majority of divers in this area have never seen one and some people who have been diving
regularly for 30-50 years have never encountered one. The only people I know who see them on a regular basis are the commercial urchin guys who dive out at the Farallons. Very rarely does anyone get buzzed up here. If they do it’s really a freak thing that usually just ends up as a check out and then they leave.
To me it’s a non issue.
In Monterey start at the Breakwater and do some shore dives there. After that maybe find a few buddies and do Point Lobos. You can do boat dives too. It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a boat in Monterey so someone else will have to fill you in on that. I know it’s not the same as I remember it.

 

[ABLAB]

Going out with either Aquarius or Bamboo reefs the first trip on guided dives to get my bearing and expand from there. Have read Breakwater is a good starting point. People seem to really like Point Lobos. I forget which one but one of the two shops I mentioned does boat dives. Hoping to get in about 10 dives a year in Monterey.

 

[FreqFlier]

New diver (35 dives) also looking for my first BP/W. Based on budget looking at DGX and Hog. With aluminum plate, single tank adapter, and 30-32 wing, and harness and steel hardware looking at about 8-9lbs. Is that heavy or par for the course? Have the option of a "soft plate" with HOG which will shave off about 2 pounds but wandering if that defeats the purpose. Will be diving cold water in Northern CA and NY (7mm and 50 degree water) a handful of times a year but primarily traveling to dive in warm water so trying to keep the weight down. But, plan on some deep blue/ocean/liveaboards in case that makes a difference as to hard plate and soft plate.

Warm water diving is different from 7+mm wetsuit/hood/etc.

I would probably consider getting two interchangeable plates with the same wing/harness (second harness doesn't cost that much either). Definitely steel one for cold waters and either alu or soft (I'd go with alu) for travel/warm waters. Alu plate is not that much heavier than soft above the water, but adds about 3 lbs of negative buoyancy in the water.

 

[Dan G]

New diver (35 dives) also looking for my first BP/W. Based on budget looking at DGX and Hog. With aluminum plate, single tank adapter, and 30-32 wing, and harness and steel hardware looking at about 8-9lbs. Is that heavy or par for the course? Have the option of a "soft plate" with HOG which will shave off about 2 pounds but wandering if that defeats the purpose. Will be diving cold water in Northern CA and NY (7mm and 50 degree water) a handful of times a year but primarily traveling to dive in warm water so trying to keep the weight down. But, plan on some deep blue/ocean/liveaboards in case that makes a difference as to hard plate and soft plate.

The STA adds some weight, but I have found that I prefer to run the cam bands directly through my backplate. I like how the tank sits closer to my body and the tank, particularly a steel tank, feels more stable. If traveling weight is a concern, not having an STA reduces that weight in your luggage. If you go without an STA, you'll remove the cam bands when you pack. Just practice threading the cam bands a couple of times, especially the part about running them through the buckles properly. Pretty easy once you get it, but it's not super intuitive at first.

Edit: There's lots of great input on here and you may feel as if now you have too much info and seriously don't know what to do. The great thing about a BP&W set up is that it's modular. You can make adjustments, additions, and subtractions quite easily even between dives.

 

[VikingDives]

New diver (35 dives) also looking for my first BP/W. Based on budget looking at DGX and Hog. With aluminum plate, single tank adapter, and 30-32 wing, and harness and steel hardware looking at about 8-9lbs. Is that heavy or par for the course? Have the option of a "soft plate" with HOG which will shave off about 2 pounds but wandering if that defeats the purpose. Will be diving cold water in Northern CA and NY (7mm and 50 degree water) a handful of times a year but primarily traveling to dive in warm water so trying to keep the weight down. But, plan on some deep blue/ocean/liveaboards in case that makes a difference as to hard plate and soft plate.

Why not get a hog soft plate, and an aluminum plate? To have both and switch a wing between them would run you an extra $200ish. . .

Everything that Edge-Hog has can be ordered ala carte. It's a backplate and wing system (soft plate, sort of), so it's modular. You'd be looking at 650ish - 820ish depending on what you wanted for two systems with a 32lb wing.

If you're just looking at a dgx style setup, you're at about $375ish. . .

 

[Nemrod]

When I hear "riding up" I know that most divers will recommend a crotch strap. I do consider a crotch strap to be an important component of a rig. However, the reason their BC, whatever it is, is riding up, especially if they have a weight belt instead of weight integration is being too nearly vertical in the water and being over weighted such that the air goes to the shoulder or top area and the weight being more centrally located amidships (hips) results in a vertical "walking" position in the water**. And of course the BC then rides up. A crotch strap would certainly prevent the riding up and the strap would be under tension as that does not correct the underlying weight and trim problem.



My two warmer water rigs, left VDH plate with VDH 22# wing, right Oxy 18 Mach V with Oxy soft plate. I much prefer the Oxy soft plate and only use the metal VDH plate for solo nowadays. This because it has better ability to mount/clip an auxiliary bottle and distribute the load. If I forget to attach the crotch strap I usually do not notice, it is not a big deal. It never has a load on it so it is just a one inch soft Nylon.



A VDH plate rigged and a VDH 18# wing mounted on an unrigged Oxy Travel soft plate.



The Oxy Travel soft plate is very comfortable in a rash guard and I dived that way in the Red Sea and the water being near 87 degrees in Cozumel the same a few days ago. My temperate water rig is an Oxy 30# Mach V on a stainless Freedom Plate. In any case, I never notice any tension in my crotch strap, it is hanging loose because my weight, trim are correct and I am horizontal in the water most times unless I do not want to be. Soft plates are intended for use with aluminum tanks or at least cylinders which are not significantly negative. The negative HP steel tanks will tend to flop side to side. I have used them with soft plates successfully but the metal plate is more stable.

** Uh, I do come across divers who have the opposite issue, their rear ends and legs go up and they are always drifting to the surface (my wife , a dive buddy just a few days ago). If you have a pear shape this could be a problem. It is still a weight and trim issue. For some near 40 years my wife would occasionally revert to this annoying habit. That is until she got her VDH wing and for whatever reason for the four years she has used it not once did she float off like a helium balloon resulting in my having to chase after her . Beats me.